SISTERS

I am an "only child". I tell people that means my parents got the child they desired. People with younger brothers or sisters just have to know their folks figured they could do "better" & kept on trying. Only one child in the family means just one thing -- PERFECTION ... FIRST TIME.

Growing up, I never desired to have any siblings. Our family was not very wealthy, both my parents had to work & I didn't feel I was missing anything in life. As I have written previously, the Roome family probably provided enough brother-sister fighting/feuding -- & my involvement with same -- to make me know what life in a larger family was like.

Years later -- after my life took me to Memphis, Tennessee to live -- I did acquire two "sisters". While not related by blood or parenting, two fine ladies entered my life, providing me with closeness, friendships & love, which made them as much, or more, than "sisters". If I ever had "real" sisters, these two would be the ones I would want.

Sharon ["Mertle"] & Kathy ["Wemus"] have shared a lot of good times with me. Along with their husbands -- Marty & Larry -- we have experienced dinners, concerts, social outings & weekend adventures & a whole lot more. They have also seen me through hospitalizations, broken hearts & the difficult times in my life. The good ... & the bad.

I met both of these woman through our working together at Maybelline in Memphis. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to write that I have known them each more than 30 years -- that would be a BIG lie ... yes, it would -- since both of them are soooooooo much more younger than me. Let's say there is a BIG age discrepancy in the years between us. I'm the old one.

Sharon is the "little sister" I never had ... or wanted, growing up. If I had been her brother, I KNOW I would have always been picking on her, calling her names, probably making her cry & hurting her feelings. [Wait ... I did those things to her anyway.] Sharon is a true friend, who has cared about me & stuck with me no matter what. Sharon is very Angelic & I am counting on her to get me into Heaven some day, even if it is only through the back door. [I'm going to need some help there.]

Kathy is the "Twin sister of different parents". Talk about thinking alike -- which can be VERY dangerous -- we do that. From both pointing to the same person, at the same time, in the crowded Coliseum in Memphis, to picking up the same pebble on the ground at the botanical garden in St. Louis ... trouble comes in two's. And don't even ask me to recall the number of times we have finished each others sentences. [Mostly Kathy. She's the smart one. She too, is an "only child".]

Poor Larry. All the stuff he has to put up with when we are all together. Luckily -- like Marty -- he more than holds his own. I think both of the husbands sometimes just stand back & stand out of the way ... usually laughing at the rest of us.



Our lives have changed through the years. I transferred to Arkansas in 1996 with Maybelline, when it was acquired by L'Oreal.

Kathy & Larry previously moved up to a home on the Kentucky Lake area of the Tennessee River, near Paris, Tennessee. [Bubba lives up near there, too !!]

Sharon & Marty are living in Cordova, Tennessee, just outside of Memphis. Now days they both fly a lot to Oregon & Idaho, visiting their daughters who have married & are starting their own families. One grandchild on board ... another on the way.

I am sorry to say we don't see each other often now days. I know it's my fault. I can give all kinds of excuses for not making the effort, but, that's all it would be ... "excuses". I don't like to travel much now days -- I did too much in the past -- & even the 130 miles to Memphis is an effort for me. As noted above -- it's my fault.

We were together in November -- the 17th -- at a lunch after my running in the Meowathon, in Memphis. Sad to say, Larry was out of town & missed a great meal. Marty took the above photo of Kathy, Sharon & me -- "MY SISTERS".